Air conditioner



Jan. 28, 1936. J* Q WICHMANN 2,028,814

AIR CONDITIONER Filed t. 26, l

Patented Jan. 2s, 1936 UNITED rSTATES PATENT OFFICE AIR CONDITIONER JohnC. Wichmann, Chicago, Ill.

Application September 26, 1932, Serial No. 634,871

16 Claims. (Cl. (i2-.154)

My invention relates in general to a combination air conditioningsystem, and more particularly to such an apparatus as adapted for homeand oice use.

It is an object of my invention to provide a system for supplyinghumidied air which may be cooled or heated by employing the ordinaryroom radiator.

It is also an object of my invention to utilize vin connection therewiththe ordinary steam or hot water radiator commonly employed for heatingpurposes, thus reducing the' necessary added space for installation, andproviding a complete system at a lower cost.

A further object is to not ,only provide cooled or heated humidiedairbut that which is purified to a very high degree.

Another object is to provide a combination air humidier and watercooler, all operated from a single source of power.

A further object is to provide a system whereby the puried humidied airemployed for cooling drinking water is passed over a radiator and into aroom in which the apparatus is installed.

Other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from aconsideration of the following detailed description taken with theaccompanying drawing, wherein Fig. 1 is a vertical cross-section of aportion of the apparatus and a full front view of the remainder thereof.

J Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the air spray caps with a portion of thetop of the cap broken away.

Air purifying and humidifyingsystems coupled with cooling apparatus inuse at tle present time are both expensive and cumbersome, requiring alarge area in which the baiiie plates and air-water spray system areinstalled for washing the air prior to'cooling it to be circulated intothe room. In my invention, I utilize the ordinary radiatoremployed in aheating system and by combining an air humidifying and purifying systemtherewith provide cooled air orv heated air, as may be desired, properlypurified and humidied without a cumbersome and expensive installation.

Referring now to the drawing, I provide an air washing and purifyingunit comprising a closed cabinet I I mounted on legs I2 divided into alower and upper closed compartment. A jacket I5 preferably filled withfullers earth encircles the upper lportion of the cabinet. I have found.that fullers earth not only serves as an insulator, but because of itsmineral components acts to cool the water in the system. Any othersuitable insulator may be substituted to provide insulation.) Ordinarycity water is carried into atank I3 through a pipe I4 projecting througha cover I6 of the upper compartment. I may also supply Waterv to thesystem by means of a bottle I1 inverted and resting on a rubber collarI8 with the neck projecting intothe tank I3. Water rises in the tank I3and if supplied from the ordinary city water system a float I9 operatesa valve 2| in the inlet I4 to shut oif the -system at the desired depthof the water. The tank I3 rests upon rubber gaskets 22 in the top of theupper compartment completely sealing same. Water is fed from the tank I3through outlets 23 into a charcoal filter 24 and from there passesthrough any brick or mineral lter 26 constructed integral with thebottom of the tank I3. A rubber stopper 2'I in the bottom of the lter 26provides for replacement of charcoal 24 when it has become lled withimpurities. The water passes through the filter 26 into the bottom of acontainer 28' resting on the shelf 29 which separates the upper andlower compartments. An outlet 3| is properly sealed in the bottom of thecontainer 28 with a sliding valve 32 built at the lower end thereof. Thepurified water in the container 28 is also suitable for drinkingpurposes and a faucet 30 is connected to a pipe leading from thecontainer 28 to supply the water for this purpose. y

'I'he air from the room is drawn into the apparatus through holes 33 inthe base of the lower compartment. This is accomplished by means of acentrifugal fan 34 driven by a motor 36. The motor may be connected toanysuitable electric outlet in the room by means of plug 4I).v Themotoris mounted in the lower compartment and drives the fan 34 by meansof a shaft 3l extending vertically through an annular opening 38. As thefan is'rotated, air is drawn through the openings 33 up through theopening 38 and circulated in a path shown by the arrows. The path ofthis air after coming up through the opening 38 is deected downwardly bymeans of the plate 39 whose outer edges project over the outside of theupper portion of the fan.

A governor .4I carried by the motor shaft 31 acts uponv a sleeve 'i2having an annularslot 35 in the wall thereof, so that as the sleeve 42moves up and down by the action of the governor, the slot 35 whichcarries the link 43 moves the link horizontally accordingly, and,through the action of the intermediate lever'M pivoted at 46 and shaft41, opens and closes the valve mechanism 32. The speed of the motorgoverns the action of the governor which in turn regulates the slidingvalve 32 to allow water to drop into the" chamber 48, and from thereonto the cover 39 of the fan 34. I have found that the humidity in thelroom is at times normally higher than that most desirable forcomfortable living conditions in which case a hand operated valve isprovided for shutting off the water supply to the fan and nozzleswithout interfering with the operation of the fan. To lock the valveclosed, the latch 80 isturned to hold the arm 43. When the humidity isagain down to the proper point, the valve may be released and itsoperation then controlled by the action of the' governor. The cover.

39 may be constructed either of exible `rubber or lead foil so as toprotect the motor and also make it possible to push the fan up throughthe annular opening 38. As a result of the centrifugal force developedby the rotation df the fan, cover 39 is straightened out-so as tooverlap the edge of the iiange 49 forming lthe wall of the opening 38 toprevent any water from getting down into the motor. This centrifugalforce sprays the water from the cover 39 into the annular hood 45 towash and cool the air as it is blown upward. An annular trough 5Iintegral with the wall 49 provides a receptacle for the water fedthrough the needle valve 82. An overflow pipe 52 projects into thetrough positioned to take care of the water rand, prevent it from risingabove the top of the pipe. This may empty into any receptacle in thelower compartment. A valve 53 in the bottom of the trough 5| facilitatesdrawing the )vater therefromA for draining and cleaning. Filter outlets84 and 85 extend from the chamber 48 upwardly through holes in the shelf29 to nozzles 88. These nozzles are below the level of the water in thecontainer 28 and water is sprayed from them by gravity prescover 39 andpasses over the water lying in the trough 5I and on up through openings821 in the shelf 29, through which openings the pipes 84 and 55 alsoextend. The air is humidiiied and cooled to some extent when passingover the water in the trough 6l and then following the pathV as noted bythe arrows up through the annular chamber 51 water from nozzles 58 issprayed into the air to wash and purify the same as well as cool it asit passes up through the baille plates 59 co-operating with thecorrugated wall 68. This action also tends to cool the water in thestorage device 28, which watermay be drawn 0H through faucet 38 fordrinking purposes. After cleaning the air, the water drains through theholes 82 and into the trough 8l. Inasmuch as the entirel unit is sealed,the pressure from the fan 34 canies the air through anJ outlet 88projecting through the outer wall of the-unit and connecting through avalve 84 to a vertical pipe 88. The air is then carried through avertical pipe 88. to pipes 81 extending longitudinally, and mountedl ona radiator cover 88 by means of brackets 83. The radiatorcovr Amas-'beconstructed of metal, completely encloslngiradiator 1|. A screenedopeningw'12 may be provided near lfor heating purposes. .used insummeror in winter, very beneficial reing slightly above the base 15. Slotteddisc caps 16 are mounted on each one of these neck openings 14 andoperate to spray the air onto the coils of the radiator 1l. The cap 18is shown more in detail in Fig. 2 with the neck 14 discharging the airinto the cap to be distributed from slots 18 at each end thereof in thedirection shown by the arrows.' It is Well known that the radiatoris/ordinarily from 15 to 30 degrees cooler than the room temperature ofthe room in which it is installed and as the air is sprayed from theslotted disc caps 16 it passes upwardly over the cooled coils and outthe screened opening 12.v

It is found that some condensation occurs on the radiator coils andthesubsequent evaporation cools the coils to evenfa lower temperature sothat the air in passing over the radiator is cooled considerably belowroom temperature. I have found that thetemperature standing in the roomat 75 may be cooled down to as low. as 50 with my system. A pet cock 11is provided in the bottom of the cover 68 for draining any water whichmight collect therein as a result of the condensation on the radiator.

The same system may be used to spray puilledV humidied air onto theheated radiator in the winter-time inasmuch as my system has no con^nection with the operation of the radiator itself, so that heated pureair is blown through the screened opening 12 when the radiator is usedWhether the system is sults may be obtained both from the standpoint ofcomfort and healthful living conditions. By rst purifying the wateriasit passes through the filters 24 and 26, all impurities and pollen areremoved. 'I'he water later washes -the air so that the resulting productis substantially free of all undesirable substances. The flow of waterthrough the outlet 32 may be controlled so that the h dity best suitedfor living conditions at a desired temperature may be readily obtained.This is particularly true in the winter when the radiator is used forheating, for at that time the humidity in the room is ordinarily low andit isv necessary to increase the moisture contentV of the air forv themost healthful living conditions as well as for the protection offurniture which bcomes dried out. Blowing this air into the roomincreases the circulation of the air above that due to ordinaryaircur'rents and thus provides *for more comfortable living conditions.

Although I have Idescribed my system as a whole, employing a particularpurifying and humidifying unit, it is also understood that any othersuch unit may be employed with the air cooling and distributing portionof my apparatus as evidenced by the pipes 68, 81 and outlets 18 incombination with the radiator.

It will be further understood that the nature and embodiments of theinvention as a whole herein described and illustrated are merelyconvenient and useful forms and that many changes 'and modifications-maybe made therein without 1. An air conditioner and water cooler com,

prising a central water chamber, a wall surroundlng said chamber toprovide an annular air con- -ducting chamber, a horizontally disposedfan chamber to said nozzles and to the top of said fan, said fan beingpositioned to spray such water by centrifugal force into the path of theair from the fan into said annular chamber, and a valve for feedingwater from the water chamber to said nozzles and onto said fan duringrotation of the latter.

2. A combination water cooler and air conditioner including a drinkingwater storage device, an annular cooling chamber surrounding the waterstorage device, a horizontally disposed rotatable fan beneath thecooling chamber for forcing air upwardly through the chamber, means forconditioning the air by feeding a water spray from the storage supplyinto the path of the air during rotation of the fan, and means forautomatically shutting off the water spray when the fan stops rotation.

3. A combination water cooler and air conditioner including a drinkingwater storage device, an annular cooling chamber surrounding the waterstorage device, a horizontally disposed rotatable fan beneath thecooling chamber for forcing air upwardly through the chamber, a motorfor driving the fan, a valve for feeding water from the storage device,means for conditioning the air byspraying the fed water into the path ofthe air, and a device controlled by rotation of the motor for openingthe valve during ,rotation of the fan.

'4. A combination water cooler and air conditioner including avertically disposed frame, a water storage receptacle at the upper endof said frame and adapted to receive an up-ended Water bottle forfeeding water thereto, water and air.

cooling chambers surrounding the water storage receptacle, ahorizontally disposed rotatable fan positioned beneath the water storagereceptacle and adapted to force a current of air through the coolingchamber, and means for automatically feeding a spray of water to the aironly during operation of the fan.

5. A combination water cooler and air conditioner including a drinkingwater supply receptacle, a cooling chamber surrounding said waterreceptacle, a horizontally disposed rotatable fan positioned beneath thewater receptacle for forcing a current of air thro-ugh the coolingchamber, a disc positioned above the fan and rotatable therewith, andmeans for conditioning the air from the fan by effecting a water sprayby centrifugal action upon water fed onto the disc.

6. A combination water cooler and air conditioner including a drinkingwater storage device, a cooling chamber surrounding said device, ahorizontally disposed rotatable fan beneath the chamber for forcing theair upwardly through said chamber, a disc mounted on top of said fan androtatable therewith, means for supplying water from the storage deviceto the rotatable disc to spray said water into the air, an annulartrough outside said disc'to catch the drippings from the spray, andlying below the disc to provide an annular opening between the fan andtrough, and means for rotating the fan whereby air is drawn up throughsaid annular opening by the fan, over water in said trough and through aspray from said disc to cool and condition said air.

'7. A device for cooling water and conditioning air, including adrinkingwater container, a cool- 'ing ychamber surrounding saidcontainer, means for drawing air into said device and delivering neathsaid container to spray cooled water into the air blast before it isblown into the chamber whereby to cool and condition said air and to ycool the water in the container.

8. A device for cooling water and conditioning air including a drinkingwater container, a cooling chamber surrounding said container, ahorizontally disposed rotatable fan beneath the cooling chamber forforcing air upwardly through the chamber, a disc mounted above said fanand rotatable therewith, a motor for rotating said fan having a verticalshaft connecting it therewith, a Water valve opening from said Watercontainer to discharge water on said disc, and means for automaticallycontrolling said valve, said means including a governor movable on saidmotor shaft upon rotation thereof, whereby water is fed to the rotatingdisc and sprayed into the upwardly forced air `to cool and condition thesame.

9. A combination air conditioner and water cooler for room installationcomprising a water storage device having an outer corrugated wall, awater inlet, and a lter for purifying the water carried in said device,an annular air-washing chamber surrounding the water storage device withthe outer corrugated wall of said storage device forming the inner wallof said chamber and baffle plates mounted on the outside wall to form anannular baiiled passageway for water storage device carried in the upperportion of the cabinet, a cooling chamber surrounding the water storagedevice having an air outlet at the top thereof, an air inlet in thelower portion of the cabinet, a fan horizontally disposed beneath thewater storage device for drawing air into the lower portion of thecabinet through the inlet, and forcing said air upwardly through thecooling chamber to the outlet, and means for sup- I plying moisture tothe air in the cooling chamber whereby upon rotation of the fanconditioned air is forced out of the cabinet into the room in which itis situated. l

11. A combination water cooler and air conditioner including a waterstorager device, a cooling chamber surrounding the Water storage device,a horizontally disposed fan rotatably mounted beneath the water storagedevice for forcv ing air upwardly through the cooling chamber, awater-proof disc carried on the top of the fan, and means for feedingwater onto said disc, whereby-upon rotation of the fan said water isthrown into the air to condition the same.

12. A combination water cooler and air conf ditioner including a waterstorage device, accoling chamber surrounding the lwater storage device,a rotatable fan horizontally disposed beneath the water storage device,means for feeding water on to the fan, and a trough mounted outside thefan to catch drippings therefrom and positioned in a manner whereby uponrotation of the fan air is drawn upwardly over the water in the troughand is sprayed by water from the fan, with said air being forcedupwardly by the fan through the cooling chamber.

13. A combination Water cooler and air conditioner including a cabinethaving an enlarged opening at the top thereof for receiving a waterfilter adapted to rest on the edge of the. opening, a water receivingchamber in the top of the filter, an upended water bottle supported atthe top of the 'receiving chamber to feed water therein, a water storagechamber supported in the cabinet around the lter `to receive watertherefrom, an air chamber surrounding the water storage chamber, arotatable fan horizontaily disposed beneath the water storage device todraw air into the cabinet and force it upwary through the air chamber,means for supplying moisture to the air to cool and condition the samewhereby to cool the water in the water storage f device, and an outletfrom theair chamber whereby the conditioned air is blown from thecabinetV into the room.-

14. A combination water cooler and air conditioner including a cabinet,a Water storage device carried in the upper portion of the cabinet, anair chamber around the-water storage device, a fan mounted below thewater storage device to force air upwardly through the air chamber,means for supplying moisture to the air, and. an insulating wallsurrounding the air chamber having fullers earth therein to provideinsulation for said air chamber and to assist in the cooling of themoist air in the chamber to cool the water in the storage device.

15. A combination water cooler and air conditioner including a cabinethaving an enlarged opening at the top thereof for receiving a. Waterfilter, said filter comprising an integral support ing rim, a waterreceiving chamber and` an earthenware lter portion extending downwardlyfrom the receiving'chamber, a Vertical passage in the iilter portionopening into the receiving chamber to carry water from said chamber tothe lter portiornand charcoal removably carried in said passage toassist in the purication of the water owing therethrough, a waterstorage device surrounding the filter having a connection extendingoutside said cabinet for supplying ltered vdrinking water, an airchamber surrounding the water storage device, a fan rotatably mountedbelow said stcrage device for drawin'g air into the cabinet'and blowingit upwardly through the air chamber, and means for supply` ing filteredwater to the air to condition the same. 16. In an air conditioning unit,a cabinet, a

A,Water receptacle in the top of the cabinet, a

water supply to the receptacle, and means for automatically controllingthe volume of said supply, an air chamber surrounding said waterreceptacle having an outlet at the top thereof, air inlets in the lowerportion of the cabinet, a ro tatable fan mounted below the waterreceptacle adapted to draw air upwardly through the air inlets andr'orce it through the air chamber, and means for feeding water from saidreceptacle into the path of the air to condition said air to be blownfrom said outlet.

JOHN C. WICHMAr-N.

